Thing 19

I liked the way screenr worked but was really unhappy that I needed a twitter account. I did wind up using ScreenCastle. Will I be able to use this at school? I went in to school a few days to try but my computer was all locked up in Admin mode. I guess they were still installing the new OS.
I could really use this type of instruction building software when I teach a vector computer art application to my students. I can't really create anything applicable yet because the new Windows 7 OS doesn't support the software I've been teaching for the past 3 years. I now have to learn new 'free' shareware. I am not going to do this until the computer labs have it installed and I know it works and is accessible. So I tried to attach a successful screencast that I created using CorelDraw in ScreenCastle which was easy to use and did display fine. Just can't get it to link and run in my blog.

Thing 18

For me, being able to listen to a current or past podcasts or watch a v-cast when it is convenient is the real plus of Podcasting. From looking at the overwhelming amount of sites, I would say that this is more of a singular tool, great for special personal interests, such as learning and refereshing a foreign language, following a health topic, getting gardening advice, keeping up with current news, etc. I did like it that I was able to find npr's All Things Considered, which is one of my favorite radio shows.

I tried many searches for potential sites that I could use specifically in my classroom, but didn't find any good fits (yet). Podcast.com has a site called For Arts Sake, but I found most of the topics to slow or adult to keep middle school students interested. I will keep looking.

Thing 17

Here was a slide show I would like to use a part of. I would want to download it and customize it to my 7th grade lecture on the styles of art. Is this ethical?

Art Movements2

View more presentations from Noreen Strehlow.

Zoho- my 2 slide presentation:


I found Zoho very easy to use... a great way to put up a presentation slide show of artwork from different museums for classroom use. Would like to, but I'm not sure I could use this for a gallery of student artwork for view by parents and students because this seems to be a very public tool. I'd have to work with it longer before I decide. It is nice how it links to Flickr and Picassa.

Thing 16

I created this with a freebie called Sketchfu that followed my drawing steps....click on Share! to see it. Or you can go to Make Your Own.



Learn how to draw cartoons, comics, and anime at Sketchfu!


I could see kids having fun doing some cartooning with this.

I found sketchfu at a site called Web 2.0 Cool Tools for Schools at http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ where I found a list of 100s of utilitites for Web 2.0 Too many to list, (presentation, graphing, video, etc.) but very worth checking out.

I also checked out the Knowtes online flashcard study site but it has been shut down until further notice due to the cost concerns of providing a free service.

Notely is a tool I might suggest a new college student check out. Notely has all the features a student would need, note taking, calendar, to-do list, task list and an upload area. So Notely makes it easy for students to get organised.

Thing 15

How might you use this tool in your personal and professional life?
Professionally this could be useful when writing a collaborative lesson plan or grade curriculum.This free Web 2.0 Google docs tool just saves past versions. Nice for small groups with good communication.

What issues come to mind about using this tool with students.
Until open source software accessibility has been allowed and students have easy access to a PC like wireless laptops, and teachers have some implemented tracking software in place, I can't see that this would be an easy to manage tool for education. But,it does suit well for small publications in progress such as a school newspaper. Again, as with most Web 2.0 Tools, if the school server doesn't let us access these open source files then they are not that helpful.

Thing 14

I didn't join any. I still don't see the advantage for me. My personal family and friends know I don't like spending hours in front of a computer for social purpose, so they won't use the computer to keep me current. I have always had a strong paranoia with posting personal information on the web. My mantra to my own offspring was that they should never give out their name, telephone or address on the internet. Yes, I know that 'privacy controls' can be implemented but one of the sites this course sent me to said "The problem in implementing these privacy options is that they're just too confusing for most non-tech savvy people to handle." This is true. Plus really motivated tech savvy people can often find work arounds to get to your digital information.

If you read my Thing 13, you will see I was not happy about being added to Yahoo Pulse- apparently a social networking site, without realizing it. I was also watching CNN for morning news today. One of their stories was how banks and lenders are following social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to find out more about people before they approve a loan.
My opinion about social networking has not changed since working on this Thing, it has always been negative. I am going to wait until I am shown huge educational gain before I would support the use of social networking at school.

Thing 13

This is the first digital tool that really made me feel I can use this ALOT. Once I get back to school I can look in my file drawers and add my hard copy lists of 50+ good art education web sites and add them to my Delicious account. What a fast way to bring up a museum site or quick YouTube clip for the students to view on the smartboard. No more scrambling to find and type in the right url.

If I can get 3-4 computer stations set up right in my room, I could set them up so students could view how tos, tips and techniques independently. Again, great for the student who needs to refresh, reteach or catch up when absent This is how technology can really help me reach more students.

Questions and Concerns:
1. When I signed up for Delicious, I did so using my own existing Yahoo account. This immediately put me into something called YahooPulse- apparently a social networking site. It picked up and brought with it all my personal info from my email/internet carrier. It would not let me 'delete' the account. I could only 'hide' my profile. I found this to be a great INVASION of privacy.
2. I tried to run a Youtube clip I tagged at home and tried from school. It didn't work.
3. In the past, I can't get to Yahoo mail from school- will I be able to get to Delicious? which is kinda hooked to my mail now?